The Palace of Versailles, France

If you travel to France, most likely you will visit the capital of Paris. However, to make that trip complete you must take a short train ride about 20 minutes outside of Paris to the city of Versailles. Leaving the train stop you will walk down a long boulevard that ends at the palace. Immediately you will be struck by the grandeur and beauty of this historic site.
However, It wasn’t always a grand palace, at first the estate was a simple hunting estate in a small village. History tells us that it won’t stay that way for long…
During the 1600s France was becoming a great power in Europe. The absolute ruler Louis XIV took over the throne in 1661 and so he began the project of expanding and creating a grand palace that was more suitable for his luxurious lifestyle.
Louis XIV hired many great artisans to restore and expand his new home. He hired landscape gardener Le Notre, architect Le Vau and painter Le Brun who spent a great amount of time renovating and completing the palace.
Overtime the palace continued to expand. Slowly the palace acquired many great works of priceless art and was decorated using extraordinarily expensive interior design.
In 1789, during the reign of Louis XVI, tension over social structure and an overspending monarch caused one of the most memorable revolutions in history. Members of the third estate revolted and insisted upon a new democratic government. France experienced great chaos for a long period of time and that the beauty and splendor of the great palace was overshadowed. In modern times, the palace was turned in to a museum to document the grandeur and vision that Louis XIV had for Versailles.
Since this palace represents France’s strength and beauty, many historical moments have occurred here. Some include: The Women’s famous march to Versailles during the French Revolution and the Paris Peace Conference after WWI 1918 in the famous Hall of Mirrors.
Now it is tourist attraction and museum.

No trip to France is complete without a trip to Versailles where you can be transported the 1700s. I’ve been there three times and would easily go again. It really should be on your list of must see locations!
Interesting facts: Floor Space, 67,000 m2; Number of Windows, 2,153; Number of rooms, 700; Staircases, 67; Paintings in the Museum’s Collection, 6,123; Drawings, 1,500; Engravings, 15,034; Sculptures, 2,102;
To Learn more visit the museum’s official site: http://en.chateauversailles.fr/homepage
Questions to think about
How did King Louis’s drive to build one of the greatest palaces influence the demise of the French the monarchy?
Despite the hardship it placed on the French economy, was this project worthwhile because it gives visitors an understanding about life in the 1700s?